Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-05-04
THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO.
Quaint and Dingy Shops and Their
Rich Treasures.

The Cairene Dazaars are as marvel
lous in their way as anything one sees
in this "crazy quilt" city. You can go
to them in carriage but not through
them. You can go through them par
TALLY on donkeys: but to see them thor
oughly, you should go to them often and
on foot. Narrow alleys between the
low booths, where solemn gowned-and-
turbaned creatures sit cross-legged,
smoking, drinking coffee, counting their
beads, or in silent meditation. From
any of which they will rouse themselves
to say: Every sheep" ''How much?"
"Ten piastre." ''Too much" "No,
very sheep" Eight piastreS?n ''Ten."
''Six piastres?" ''Ten; very sheep"
''Four piastres?' ''No, no, no,'' Then
you turn away laughing. Sometimes
you are allowed to go; but usually you
are soon stopped. and the dialogue be-
gins again, when you should stand man.
fully by your lowest offer. ''Ten pias-
tre?" -Four" ''Eight piastre?"
''Four," p" ''Six piastre?" ''Four." " "Oh,
L ruined, ruined." -Four" Take,
take" with an accent of despair that
seems TO portend instant bankruptcy.
You feel little mean, but recover rap
idly when the merchant having put
away your piaStres, eagerly offers you
the rest of his stock at the same price
Then you feel done" and inclined to
demand the return of part of your
money. There are certain expensive
things, like silk, where you have to sit
down and spend the morning. 1t is
very amusing to see the Anglo-Saxons,
fresh and fair and clean, and striving to
be patient, sitting among the grave and
shadowy Orientals, and waiting until a
decent offer is made. Sometimes the
alleys are shaded from the sun by mat
tings or boards or rugs stretched from
roof to roof of the high Overhanging
houses, and the sunlight strikes through
riffs and cracks In rays and spears of
solid gold. Silk from Damascus, and
soft stuffs of mixed cotton and silk;
gold and siver ornaments, bracelets and
anklets and rings and collars, rough
work from the Soudan and fine work
from smiths here in Cairo; pottery and
brasswork, rags and mattings, fruit and
tobacco and grain, coffee and drugs and
china and carved wood, scarfs and
firearms and swords and
strange knives. In the Tunis bazaar
are the Moors, who are neither black,
umbra, nor red nor white, but are of
strange bleached or livid hue. Here
are woolen stuffs and cotton stuffs and
slippers of curious shapes and of all
sizes and colors. The wood bazaar
where one can see and smell the pine,
dear to all southern hearts, and logs
that might have come from the mes
quite trees of Texas. The spice bazaar
darker and more picturesque than any
other, where the air is heavy with rich
OdorS and perfumes, some familiar some
and where one goes back in
voluntarily to the familiar old story of
how the jealous brethren, wishing to
get rid of the young dreamer lifted
up their eyes and looked, and behold
company of Ishmaelites came from GIL
cad with their camelS, bearing spices
and balm and myrrh, going to carry it
down to Egypt" And so the young
Joseph was sold. And to this day the
caravans come, bringing their spices
down into Egypt. Following the tor
tuouS lane to what seems an indefinite
distance, refusing bargains and beggars
on all sides, making your way with
in some places because of the
throng of people, you come at last to
the old town gate, the Bah eZ Zuweleh,
or, as it is often called, the Babel Mu-
tawelli, from tradition that the most |
revered of all the Mahammedan saints |
lives behind one of the doors. The two |
huge towers on either side are built of |
solid blocks of stone. The gates have |
bars of iron on them, and between the |
iron and the wood are rows upon rows |
of old nails, and on the nails are bits of |
rags, of string, Of leather; punches of
hair and wool. This extraordinary |
decoration is made by people who enter
into contracts, or who make vows-a |
nail is put in as a witness, or piece of
string is tied TO a nail already there.
Once having done this, the Moslem feels |
he has sworn by the holy saint, and will |
ON no account break his oath. Outside
the gate hang bales of wood and stone,
thrown into the city during the siege OF
Mohammed Ali.